Pakistan court orders arrest of Sharif's brother

PAKISTAN: A Pakistani anti-terrorism court Friday issued arrest warrants for the brother of former premier Nawaz Sharif, just days before the pair's scheduled return from exile, officials said.

Shahbaz Sharif has been charged with ordering the killing of five people in an allegedly fake police encounter during his 1997-99 tenure as chief minister in Punjab province, his lawyer said.

The brothers, arch rivals of President Pervez Musharraf who ousted Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup in 1999, are due to arrive back in Islamabad on Monday.

"The anti terrorism court judge Shabbir Hussain Chatha has ordered police to arrest Shahbaz Sharif and produce him before the court," their laywer Aftab Bajwa told AFP. The court has ordered that "Shahbaz Sharif should be arrested whichever airport he lands at," he said.

According to the prosecution, police in 1998 killed five students from an Islamic school or madrassa on the orders of Shahbaz Sharif, who suspected them to be involved in acts of terrorism.

"We will adopt all legal methods to defend their rights," said a senior member of the Sharifs' faction of the Pakistan Muslim League party, Siddiqul Farooq.

"On May 11 2004 Shahbaz Sharif tried to come back to face the charges but he was forcibly sent back."

Industrialist-turned-politician Nawaz Sharif was himself sentenced to life in prison on tax evasion and treason charges after Musharraf toppled him.

Meanwhile the Pakistan government told Pakistan's top court that President Gen. Pervez Musharraf will continue his dual role as head of state and Army chief until November 15.

"President Gen. Musharraf will continue holding dual offices till his successor takes over after November 15," Gen. Musharraf's lawyer, Mr Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada, said in his reply to the Supreme Court.

Taking up a petition filed by Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed on Wednesday against holding of dual offices by the President, a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry had directed Mr Sharifuddin to apprise the court as to exactly when the President's current term will end. Pakistan attorney-general Malik Qayyum and Gen. Musharraf's counsel, Mr Sharifuddin, presented their formulations during Thursday's hearing.

Meanwhile: Pakistani lawyers on Thursday launched a countrywide campaign to oust President General Pervez Musharraf from power and revive democracy.

Hundreds of lawyers rallied and boycotted courts across Pakistan on Thursday in a renewed campaign to force President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to step down as supporters of former Premier Nawaz Sharif prepared for his promised return from exile. Courts in major cities, including Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta, Islamabad and Rawalpindi, were largely deserted and lawyers hoisted black flags, witnesses said.

"This movement will end when Gen. Musharraf is out of power. We will not allow dictatorship in the country anymore," Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Munir Malik told reporters here outside the Supreme Court building.

Islamabad, Friday, AFP, Asian Age